I just wanted to add a link to those fics of mine that I've uploaded to Ao3. Various pairings, and any explicit fics have been labeled as such. I will say that if you're not the sort of person who likes the idea of Steed and his partners being romantically involved, you should probably avoid my work. Otherwise...enjoy!

As a very much lapsed reader of fan fiction, it's difficult to know how to approach "scenes" rather than stories. In this case, it's a recasting of a scene in the 1998 movie reimagined with Macnee's Steed and Rigg's Mrs Peel.

As advised in the preamble to the piece, I first watched the scene concerned and then read the "remix".

For starters, I quickly realised that I had completely forgotten about this scene, despite having seen the movie on probably ten occasions. The chemistry between the leads is such that you get sent to sleep: neither has presence or much of an understanding of the characters they're playing, and crucially, they have absolutely no warmth. It's like watching a love scene played out by two Cybernauts...

This brings me to Lauren's rewrite of this scene. I have to say that I found it exceptionally difficult to suddenly place Macnee and Rigg in the same scene in my mind, as the sheer horror of the Fiennes/Thurman version was so fresh in it. That's not a criticism of the writing, but maybe of the choice to rewrite something realised in such a glacial, awful fashion and then advise people to watch that awful thing first!

People have very different ideas regarding the Steed-Emma relationship. I'm an old stick-in-the-mud, I don't mind saying, and have to be honest that aside from a very obvious closeness that could only have come from a pre-Series 4 affair, which led to their companionship and mutual trust and admiration, I don't get the feeling that Steed and Emma were together in the biblical sense during the televised episodes. So, probably I'm not the audience for the "Steed and Emma get it on" type of fanfic - I don't decry it; it's just not what I look for in The Avengers. (Though I say that without having read very much of that type of fiction!)

This scene, however, seated at the dawn of Steed and Emma's association, makes sense, and is well-written. It certainly takes something distinctly unmemorable and gives it a good shake-up, turning it into something more satisfying. But Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman... get out of my head, people! (My fault, not yours, Lauren.)

I hope that's a fair review from someone who's not really in the market for SEDDI fiction. _________________Alan
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Hidden Tiger Books

Last edited by Alan on Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:55 am; edited 1 time in total

Thanks for your response, Alan. I chose that scene because I felt it could have been easily done by Macnee and Rigg, who had actual chemistry. It's a very "Avengers" scene, but falls apart because Fiennes and Thurman have no chemistry. So that's why I made that choice.

Personally, I don't see any contradiction in recognizing the emotional and romantic relationship between Steed and Mrs. Peel. It's there and to me it's fairly obvious that they are more than just friends, both before and during the series. That's the view I take in these fics - so if that's not your thing, that's totally fine - I just don't want to have to defend choices in fic writing, or to go into defending my view of that relationship. If you don't like the choice, no worries, but I'd prefer to have actual discussions of the story as a story. If you can go into this with an open mind, I'd really appreciate it. 'Cause my fic is primarily SEDDI fic._________________"It's a conflict of science and humanity! Equations, isotherms...I have a dynamic too."

There's nothing you need defend. I was merely stating that my take on the series is different to that of others. I'm not looking to argue the "did they, didn't they?" question, merely to state that my own perspective on the show didn't spoil my enjoyment of the piece (though I do wonder if I'd have enjoyed it a lot more had I not watched the movie scene at all). _________________Alan
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Hidden Tiger Books

I get it - I just wanted to cut that debate off at the knees, because I'm really tired of having it and I don't get why so many people (not you,
Alan) think it so important that they're not having sex. I just don't want every fic I post to get "well, I don't agree with this relationship" responses. I've become defensive about that. That's all.

And I'm really never having that debate again. It's exhausting and childish._________________"It's a conflict of science and humanity! Equations, isotherms...I have a dynamic too."

Its a clever re-imagining and intriguingly erotic mix of Emma re-creating Steed's, bound-in-silken-cords, exotic bondage dream from Death's Door
and the smouldering sensuality of the enchantingly seductive, Emma: barefoot in Turkish translucent trousers, elements and ambience of the steamy Arabian harem setting from Honey for the Prince._________________James/Mrs Emma Peel